To become a king and a magician

Aozaki Aoko, already an older woman, said somewhat shyly, "When there are many people, it's quite inconvenient in many ways, isn't it?"

“I don’t care,” Lydia replied curtly.

It's quite normal for renowned magicians to have romantic relationships with multiple women, especially for those magic families that have fallen on hard times. Although some families refuse to accept outsiders in order to maintain the purity of their bloodline, many magic families are now casting a wide net, since the family line has been lost and the difficulty of tracing their roots increases dramatically.

Moreover, magicians who consider themselves superior wouldn't care about their emotional debts; in fact, they believe those women should be grateful to them.

Listening to the opinions of the two people who had sandwiched him, Natsukawa Tora pondered for a while, then looked at the other four people in front of him.

"If Aoko and Lydia think that way, I have no problem with it, but are you really okay with it?"

Hier, Ayaka Sajou, Artoria, and Mordred.

After exchanging a glance, Hiel laughed first: "I've already said my opinion, and I don't mind. Just consider it repayment for the kindness of taking me in ten years ago and raising me for ten years... Well, if you're wondering if this is unfair to me emotionally, my answer is no."

"While I wouldn't dare say that my feelings for you are romantic love, I certainly don't dislike you. Is this enough for now? You don't need to take me too seriously."

After Hiel said that, Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but shake her head: "Hiel, I guarantee that after today, this man will definitely keep you tied to the wall. He won't let you leave even if you want to. He's quite responsible in this regard. You definitely won't be able to get off the ship."

“This is also a bottom line,” Xia Chuanhu laughed. “Although I’m currently showing a tendency to fall in love with every woman I meet and am still a scumbag who juggles multiple relationships, I will never lay a hand on a woman unless she takes the initiative. If I do, I will take full responsibility.”

To be honest, if he didn't have this kind of bottom line, Natsukawa Torato would have become a modern-day Rasputin long ago, or even a supercharged version.

“I understand Hield’s opinion. I’m sorry you got dragged into this because of Meryl’s recklessness.”

"It's ok."

Meanwhile, seeing that Hiel had taken the initiative to speak up, Mordred immediately raised his hand: "Father! I'm fine too, it hurts!"

A magic bullet struck Mordred on the forehead, interrupting her.

Xia Chuanhu rubbed his forehead: "Why are you getting involved?"

"I'm not just joining in the fun, I'm serious, Father!" Mordred rubbed his forehead. "But what are you worried about, Father? There's no one here who doesn't like you, and you like everyone here, don't you? So there's no problem!"

"Yes, Mordred is right."

Artoria approached Natsukawa Torato: "Like Siel, Master, my feelings for you are not purely romantic love, but in this abnormal moment, that difference doesn't matter... Also, when you expressed your love to Souji earlier, we were all there."

At the Imperial Capital Singularity, Natsukawa Torato told Okita Souji, "I like Souji, and I like Ria and all of them." Considering Merlin previously mentioned that he had set up a magic device in Avalon that could observe Singularities...

"Well, we can understand what you're worried about, Torakasa." Ayaka Sajo reached out and ruffled Torakasa Natsukawa's hair. "You like us, but you don't know if we like you back, so in this situation, you might be wondering if this is forcing us."

"But in reality, just as Mordred said, there is no one here who doesn't like you, neither do I, and it's the same in Chaldea."

"Moreover, the people here were all saved by you before. Now that you need help, we would be happy to repay your kindness and give you the magic you need."

At this point, Ayaka Sajou looked at her older sister and said, "Can I borrow your husband for a while, sister?"

"Ayaka... Haa~~"

Sajou Rei sighed, then laughed, "It seems there's no point in saying anything more. Ayaka, you've endured for over a decade."

"After all, you've been eating alone for so long, you should share some with me."

Listening to the women's statements from the sofa, Xia Chuanhu took a deep breath: "You guys... how many copies of my marriage application will I need to get later?"

Lydia smiled and said, "The Archerlot family can help with that. Whether it's a dozen or dozens of books, Tiger can get you as many as he wants."

"Looks like it's a decision..."

Aozaki Aoko rubbed the little boy next to her: "So—who goes first?"

"I'll decide the order. Although it will probably get completely messed up in the end, it's best to decide on the initial sequence... But let's wait until everyone arrives before making a decision."

"Huh? Is anyone else here?"

"Merry, who was kicked off by her master—it seems she has already run off to Chaldea."

Upon hearing what Sajou Rei said, everyone in Avalon was stunned.

(Just how many people is that scumbag/bastard/color trash/dead nightmare planning to recruit?!)

As the only male present, Natsukawa Tora felt the shadow of death looming over him for the first time.

Will he really be able to walk out alive?

........

Tiamat arrived in Uruk.

Forty-nine hours remain.

68. Arcueid Awakens

In a daze, Arcueid's consciousness gradually returned to clarity, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a boundless sea of ​​beautiful flowers and a pavilion not far away.

"Is this...a dream?"

It wasn't reality, but a dream.

Arcueid could still tell that she was only now fully conscious, her body not yet fully awake.

"Shouldn't my dream... be set in the City of a Thousand Years?"

Arcueid has always had only one dream: she locks herself away in the unchanging, thousand-year-old city, sleeping soundly for centuries.

This is the only thing she dreams about.

The sea of ​​flowers before her was a scene she could never have dreamed of.

(A sea of ​​flowers...)

Is that Mary?

"Well, it's me."

Inside the pavilion, countless petals gathered and gradually formed the shape of Merry. After making a heart shape with her hands at Arcueid, she smiled and said, "It's the magical Merry that everyone loves and flowers adore!"

really.

Only a nightmare like Mary could change someone else's dream like this.

Arcueid sat down in front of her: "You were the one who woke me up, weren't you?"

“Yes,” Meryl nodded with a smile. “It’s quite tiring. Arcueid, you’ve been accumulating your vampiric urges for over a decade. It might not mean much to you, but it’s a lot of mental pressure for us outsiders. It’s like being pulled out of a whirlpool.”

Mary felt like her arm was about to break, but it didn't matter whether her arm broke or not, as she could recover from the dream by thinking about it for a while.

"Really? I feel fine, much easier than before. But thank you anyway, Mary! Otherwise, it would probably have taken me a while to get out of this on my own."

"Actually, almost a day has passed in the real world now. It took them about half a day to pull you back—well, mainly to satisfy your blood-sucking urge."

"I see... huh?"

Arcueid paused for a moment, realizing a certain piece of information that Merry had mentioned.

How to suppress the urge to drink blood?

"Merry, you've managed to suppress my vampiric urges again?"

"No, no, no, I don't have that much power. It would be very simple for me to do it in a different way, but I can't completely solve it. I just helped you deceive your body and instincts. Now what you crave is no longer blood, but magic power."

Meili briefly explained the plan she and Xia Chuanhu had finalized.

By transforming the vampire urge into an urge to absorb magic—or simply, the mana-drinking urge—combined with Arcueid's own constitution that allows her to continuously draw magic from the planet, the problem caused by the vampire urge was solved in a relatively semi-permanent way.

To put it bluntly, it has changed from "drinking the blood of living beings" to "drinking the blood of planets".

"The moment you wake up, your body will start to crave magic, right? Because you've just been converted, the initial craving will be very strong. Tiger is ready to replenish your magic. After the first wave of replenishment, we can stabilize the situation through the planet."

"In this way, you won't have to worry about the bloodlust until the planet itself is completely depleted."

Mary explained.

"Or if you want a permanent solution, Shi will come over later and help you kill the impulse. In fact, using this method will also restore your shrunken body."

"My body has shrunk? What happened to my body?" Arcueid frowned.

After a pause, Meryl tapped the table, and Arcueid's appearance in the real world immediately appeared on the smooth surface—she, roughly eight or nine years old, was fast asleep on a sofa, like a sleeping beauty waiting for a prince to wake her.

"You and Tiger used too much power to stop Tiamat, and to stop you from going berserk, Tiger chose to subdue you by sacrificing yourself—as a result, you both turned into children and need a lot of magic to return to your original state and power."

"I see......"

Arcueid suddenly realized.

"Is that tiger a child now?"

"About this..."

Meryl tapped the table again, and the image on it immediately rippled away. When it stabilized again, what appeared was Meryl pressing Natsukawa Tora down on the bed and kissing him deeply.

Scratching her cheek somewhat sheepishly, Melly laughed and said, "Actually, I'm doing two things at once right now. While I'm explaining this to you here, I'm also feeding magic to the tiger in the real world. It just so happens that it's my turn at this time, so there's nothing I can do about it since they collided."

"Feed magic?"

"Yes, yes, we can use a lot of magic to shorten the time needed for your recovery. Mucosal contact is the most efficient way."

As Mary said this, Mary on the other side became increasingly restless, her cheeks flushed red, looking completely absorbed in the fun.

And Natsukawa Tiger seemed to be responding to her, wrapping his arms and legs around her neck and waist, locking her body tightly.

"Snapped!"

The scene abruptly ended there, and Meryl, who was sitting in front of Arcueid, suddenly trembled.

Arcueid frowned. "Merry, what's wrong? Your body... no, this is a dream, so your mental state isn't quite right?"

"No, it was just a sudden shock, quite unexpected!"

Unexpected?

Arcueid frowned even more deeply at the strange ending of Meryl's voice.

After managing to calm herself down, Meryl quickly instructed Arcueid as if she were in a hurry: "Anyway, once you wake up, go find Tiger. He knows what to do. Just follow your instincts, okay!"

Before she could finish speaking, Mary's body suddenly became ethereal for a moment.

"Seriously, how come I'm still so energetic after a whole day? The idea of ​​Pokémon having unlimited stamina is really something... Well, that's all for now, I have urgent business to attend to, I'll be going now—"

Before she could finish speaking, Meryl vanished right before Arcueid's eyes.

Arcueid tilted her head in confusion: "What exactly happened... Well, never mind, I'll understand when I wake up and see Tiger. Meryl said I've been sleeping for a whole day, so it's time for me to wake up."

With that thought in mind, Arcueid began to hold her breath.